The present invention relates to a weather resistant flag or banner having an associated flagstaff.
The invention is proposed in fulfillment of the challenge posed in the patent application DE 100 024 88.2 relating to a weather resistant flag having an associated flagstaff which can be manufactured in a cost effective manner independent of the actual dimensions thereof, the flag being raisable and lowerable by means of a motor which need not be powered from an external source, and having the greatest possible flexibility of use.
DE 100 024 88.2 describes a flag having solar cells whose efficiency can be increased by coupling with an electrolyzer of a fuel cell. The energy thus obtained can be conducted to a light emitting film comprised of organic material OLED and/or comprised of polymeric material PLED and/or can be conducted to a third party energy user.
A light emitting film and/or a gate with pinpoint LEDs (light emitting diodes) operate to provide a uniform distribution of light beneath the flag. The light film can also be comprised of a fluorescing material.
It can therefore be advantageous to filter the dew or condensation water on the flagstaff and/or to conduct the rain water on the flagstaff through a gutter or channel system to a water container. Moreover, a funnel can be mounted on the flagstaff or at a spacing from the flagstaff. A gravel belt can be provided at the base of the flagstaff and the water can thereby be filtered enroute to a water container. To the same end, a reformer can be configured as it is done, for example, in the automobile industry.
Solar cells are provided outside of and/or inside of the staff or above or below the flag cloth. An electrolyzer separates the water into hydrogen and oxygen, the water being supplied from conduction water, source water, dew water, or rainwater and which serves as an energy source. A fuel cell produces electricity.
The flagstaff can also be disposed immediately adjacent to a gas conduit. The fuel cell converts this gas as well into electricity. The electrolyzer and the fuel cell can use hydrogen, gas mixtures, and oxygen as a gas storage system.
Energy storage can be provided in the base or in the body of the flagstaff and/or on the flag cloth.
Flags and banners have found use through the centuries as identification of peoples and organizations. In recent times, flags have proven themselves as an advertising medium for company symbols and their economic output (DE 39 39 085 A1). For this reason, there has been a change and enlargement of, among other things, the range of working materials used for the flag cloth. In lieu of a material such as, for example, linen, which can be embellished with colors as well as, in some circumstances, artwork, metals of various types and synthetic material compositions can now be found, whereby the dimension, weather resistance, intended usages, and the like can play a large role. These same value criteria count as well for the configuration of the associated flagstaff comprised of, for example, aluminum (DE 27 06 944), some other metal, or polymeric material.
The present invention provides a solution to the challenge of configuring a weather resistant flag or banner and associated flagstaff which can be manufactured in an economical manner independent of its dimensions, can be raised and lowered without the need for a motor powered by an outside source, and whose flexibility of use is maximized.
The present invention proposes, as a solution to this challenge, a configuration in which solar cell strips are secured to both a weather resistant flag cloth preferably formed of synthetic material and the associated flagstaff, and which comprises as well an energy storage device to which the energy captured by the solar cell strips is conducted and from which energy is drawn to power various power users.
DE 199 02 012 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,341 suggest the disposition of flexible or bendable solar cells on a sail cloth in order to generate electricity for various electrical power users; however, devices are needed for such configurations in order to adapt the solar cells, which are practically unchangeable in their dimensions, to the weather dictated changes in the sail cloth. DE 26 29 085 A1 suggests a synthetic rustle web as a flag cloth which is tear- and rust-resistant. In a comparison of flag cloth material in Column 3 of DE 27 34 045 C3, the advantages of a polyester web are recognizable. A single sided synthetic coating is frequently sufficient for those solar cell strips which are to appear as substitute strips of the same color- and/or text-composition as the flag cloth portions they will substitute for; however, the removability of such strips should not be overlooked. In any event, the solar cell strips, which are of a colored background which can portray a picture or a writing character, must either exhibit the color tone of the relevant color composition or must be sufficiently transparent so that the background with the color composition is recognizable.
In addition to providing solar cell strips on flag cloth, flagstaffs can be provided with solar cell strips mounted thereto in a removable manner on the inside, if desired, as well as the outside of the staffs. As disclosed in DE 38 10 260 A1 and DE 195 29 995 A1, it is known, to ensure that the last available light is conducted to the solar cell strips, to provide openings or, respectively, recesses, adequately dimensioned and covered with a thickened covering which does not hinder the transmission therethrough of light.
In order to increase the light yield and, thus, the energy generation, the possibility exists to dispose mirrors on the interior of a tube shaped flagstaff with the mirrors being operable to distribute the incoming light among several solar cell strips. The construction of the openings or recesses in the flagstaff can comprise various materials but can as well comprise at least one removably mountable transparent solar cell.
The flagstaff can, in correspondence with its length, be comprised of one of the types of rotatable flagstaff operable to support a flag cloth and having one or more components which can be assembled together with one another in, for example, a bendable arrangement involving a joint (DE 29 03 664 C2) or an arrangement in which the components are inserted into one another (DE 32 04 977A1). Such assembled arrangements facilitate necessary repair work or an exchange of solar cell strips within the flagstaff. It is self-evident that a conductor for conducting the energy should be provided between the individual flagstaff components.
As the flagstaff deployment location cannot always be sited such that light throughout the entire day optimally falls on the solar cell strips on the flagstaff, and as sometimes devices must necessarily be mounted on the flagstaff which cannot accommodate thereon solar cell strips, it can be necessary to rotate the flagstaff independent of the uppermost flagstaff component, whose orientation is determined by the wind. This rotation of the flagstaff can be accomplished manually or by a solar energy powered motor which can, in a desired situation, be automatically actuated via a switch associated with a sensor (U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,555). The possibility exists in any event to accomplish the raising and lowering of the flag by a solar energy powered motor, which can as desired in the event of slackening wind, operate a pressurized air device in order to supply pressurized air through the interior of the flagstaff to slots in the uppermost flagstaff component associated with the flag cloth for unfurling of the flag cloth (DE 195 29 995 A1).